The statistics are frightening. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between them (winning four each) and when they have both entered the same event, you have to go back to the 2024 Paris Olympics to find the last time that one or the other didn’t win the title. With the light beginning to fade on Novak Djokovic’s glorious career and the immediate chasing pack stumbling behind, the idea that anyone else might get a look-in at the Australian Open, starting next week, seems fanciful at best.
New stars will always find a way, though, and in João Fonseca, the brilliant young Brazilian who burst onto the scene in 2025, there is hope that the top two will have some competition sooner rather than later. At 19, Fonseca remains raw and at times wild, but his shot-making and the ease with which he creates power are breathtaking, making him the standout player of the next generation.
Ironically, it was Sinner who hastened Fonseca’s arrival on the tour. Invited to the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin as a hitting partner, Fonseca practised with Sinner for the first time, after which, the Italian’s then-coach, Darren Cahill, told Sinner that Fonseca was planning to go to university. Sinner then told Fonseca that he was too good to do that and Fonseca soon decided to turn professional.
Fonseca had already shown huge promise by winning the NextGen finals – the tournament for the top players aged 20 and under – at the end of 2024. But it was in the following month that he really shot to wider attention, beating ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open, his free-flowing style and scintillating tennis capturing the imagination of the Melbourne crowd.
“I played unbelievable tennis,” Fonseca told The Observer, looking back with a statement of fact, rather than of arrogance, his choice of phrase not dissimilar to Roger Federer, who just happens to be his idol. “I was the underdog, so I was playing with no pressure, he had all the pressure.”
Fonseca would appear to have the talent to threaten Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance one day, but it is going to take time
Fonseca would appear to have the talent to threaten Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance one day, but it is going to take time
Fonseca, who had begun the year ranked No 145, duly lost in the next round but when Cahill asked Sinner where he thought the teenager would be ranked by the end of the year, the Italian predicted: “Top 25”. He was almost bang on, with Fonseca, who won matches at each of the four majors, ending 2025 as the world No 24 on the back of his first two ATP Tour titles, in Buenos Aires and in Basel, a tournament won 10 times by Federer.
“I’m very, very happy with myself, starting the year ranked 140 in the world and finishing top 25, winning two great titles, one on clay, one indoors,” Fonseca said. “It was just amazing for me, a lot of great victories as well, doing some great weeks. Very happy the way that I played, the level that I played. I hope I can continue with this rhythm.”
When the Swiss shoe and clothing manufacturer On signed Fonseca as one of its first tennis players in March 2023, alongside Iga Świątek and Ben Shelton, he jumped at the chance, hoping that he would get to meet Federer, an investor in the company. It took until the Laver Cup last September for that to happen but the advice and experience that the Swiss shared will doubtless help him navigate the difficulties of his second full year on tour.
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“It’s a lot different,” Fonseca said, who has dropped to 29 in the latest rankings. “Now I’m top 25 in the world and most of the players know me. Never in my career have I played a year that I needed to defend some points. I was always progressing and just playing against people ranked lower than me. I was just the underdog every time, the younger one, just having some experience and playing my best.
“The biggest challenge for me in 2026 is to handle this pressure of getting to defend my points and play a little bit more with the pressure on me. It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a new experience for me. But I’m playing good, I’m confident, so we go for it and just try to be happy on court and play my best.”
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Though Fonseca won 26 matches and lost 16 last year, he also lost in the first round six times, a record that he is keen to improve on in 2026. “A personal goal for me is to do great weeks consistently… not up and down, like doing semis and losing second round,” he said. “That consistency is what brings me to the top level. I hope I can get close to the top 10, maybe get into it and do great runs in the slams.”
Fonseca would appear to have the talent to threaten Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance one day, but it is going to take time. He has not played either man in an official match yet, although an exhibition against Alcaraz in December offered a tantalising glimpse of what might be to come, as he lost 7-5, 2-6, 10-8. “Of course, we both know it was an exhibition, but we both played to win,” Fonseca said. “It was a great experience to see the level right there, how are his groundstrokes, how he is. It was a great experience for me.
“Those guys, Jannik and Carlos, they’re winning everything now. Hopefully in the future, I can play against them and maybe play finals against them. It’s going to be fun.”
Photograph by Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images